Internet of Farming: Arduino-based, Backyard Aquaponics

December 26, 2013 (Local Org) - Upon this man's property is an impressive automated agricultural system he claims can be scaled easily and incrementally. While still technically a prototype, it does showcase a lot of impressive features even if many aspects of the project may seem undesirable to many prospective home-farmers. The impressive features are of course the automation and monitoring systems, as well as the clever engineering solutions used throughout the project. Some of the shortfalls some commentators were pointing out included the possible contamination of food due to the large amount of plastic involved.

Rik Kretzinger, the project's creator, is using the Arduino microcontroller and an opensource program called "APDuino" that allows you to quickly implement automation without tedious programming. In the video, he gives a very detailed explanation of how it works.

If you were interested in aquaponics - this video will give you more than enough to start with. Regarding BPA and other contaminants, it would be a good idea to test for these before consuming (or selling) large amounts of food from a system such as this. While big-agri doesn't seem to care, the entire point of localization is to do it better, safer, and healthier in addition to doing it in a manner more beneficial to ourselves and our community. For more information on Mr. Kretizinger's incredible prototype, see his build-log here.